Hitting the wall

[dkaos]

I have brewed plenty of average beers, some recipes on the internet are dodgy as! Dr Smurto's Golden Ale however, well that was magic. Have brewed it once and not since though, really need to.

 

[Matplat]

I will second the recommendation for obtaining a copy of 'brewing classic styles'.... and since my recent experience with chlorinated water I would put that high on the list of potential flavour impeding problems.

 

[Judanero]

If you have all the gear already i.e. a pot large enough for a full scale boil using extract, for shits and giggles maybe get some swiss voile and try biab for a batch... you could order pre cracked grain from craft brewer or a complete recipe pre-cracked from brewman (if you go the brewman route the snpa clone, benchmark brown and 150 lashes are tried and tested good ale recipes).

As someone else has said, I personally found my beers were better once I went all grain, I could always perceive a slight twang to kit and extract beers had an underlying sweetness as well. NB- This is only my experience, I'm sure there are award winning extract and kit beers and maybe if I'd stuck with it I could put my hand up at being able to produce those aforementioned award winning beers also... but my first "my god that is a bloody good beer" moment was my second ag beer.

If you do go down the rabbit hole liquid yeast also offer a ridiculous range to play with and I have found my ferments cleaner since I have used 02 with a ss air stone-incidentally shaking a fv will barely if ever get you the optimum ppm 02 required for yeast.

 

[ctagz]

Sounds like you're trying to hit a moving target mate... Pick one style and work with that until you get results you like. Don't change many variables at once, consistency is key here. Oh also write everything down.

As mentioned Yeast, try pitch two packs (rehydrated as mentioned), with dry yeast you don't need to aerate your wort (Y)

Personally I have found my beers taste better when i shoot for around 4% ABV... dunno just do so far, i assume less out of balance. I have also found i get good results trying to make pilsner style beers, as opposed to pale ales.

I have recently got into changing my water profile. water is the largest ingredient after all.

You're on the right track, TL;DR

Pick one style
Pitch two packs of yeast
Work on consistency changing one variable at a time

Yes we've all hit that wall, all it takes is one good beer to knock it down.

 

[SBOB]

with dry yeast you don't need to aerate your wort (Y)

plenty would disagree with that opinion

 

[Dave70]

I have brewed plenty of average beers, some recipes on the internet are dodgy as! Dr Smurto's Golden Ale however, well that was magic. Have brewed it once and not since though, really need to.

Which one?
Seems to be about ten thousand variations.

 

[mckenry]

Which one?
Seems to be about ten thousand variations.

:icon_offtopic: Agreed. Original is it. Variations are different beers IMHO

 

[Matplat]

LDME + spec grains and hops makes delicious beer, not as much control as AG, but variables removed and plenty of potential for greatness.....

 

[dkaos]

I only brewed it from Smurto's recipe, I think I have it printed at home, although that may be the Landlord. Sorry it was a long time ago!

 

[pcmfisher]

Nope! Are you insinuating that all HB tastes awful (to me)? Hadn't really thought of that. I figured HB should taste like commercial beer if you're not botching it.

Well the first thing I would do is try someone elses homebrew and if you like it get the recipe and see if you can make it the same.

As far as homebrew tasting like commercial beer, yes and no.

Kit brews - you need a lot of imagination to make them taste anything like a commercial beer. I have never tasted one.

Extract brews - Need less imagination, and with a bit of care get huge quality increases over kits. IMO.

All Grain brews - Obviously the way to go if you want quality. However, just because it is an all grain brew doesn't guarantee it will be good.

 

[wobbly]

plenty would disagree with that opinion

Whilst plenty may disagree that doesn't make it best practice

This quote is from the Danstar Q&A

Dry beer yeast needs to be reconstituted in a gentle way. During rehydration the cell membrane goes through changes which can be lethal to yeast. In order to reconstitute the yeast as gently as possible (and minimize/avoid any damage) yeast producers developed specific rehydration procedures. Although most dry beer yeast will work if pitched directly into wort, it is recommended to follow the rehydration instructions to insure the optimum performance of the yeast.

Cheers

Wobbly

 

[Parks]

See attached couple of pictures, they are my last two recipes as supplied by the LHBS.

My actual SGs were:

• Guinness clone - 1042 -> 1015
• Golden Ale - 1046 - still fermenting

Any comments on these recipes? Do they look reasonable? I questioned the stout as there was a lot of light malt in there but was told too much dark malt and the yeast wont process it all. When I was there picking up the golden ale gear I told them about the unusually low ABV and light colour and they said they are now rehashing the recipe - bleh

Looking at the spreadsheet figures it looks like the OG is not far from expected, but my FGs are high - thoughts? I'm assume not enough yeast? Try a starter?
For pitching, I bring my yeast up to room temp after being in the fridge (sachet on the bench for an hour), I shake the hell out of my FV to aerate, pitch yeast at optimum temp (sprinkle dry yeast evenly over wort), then drop the FV into the fridge at optimum temp. This seems to be a pretty usual way to do it for a novice, yeah?

Is it just me or did you forget to add the hops? Neither recipe has the required hop contribution to make up the IBUs unless I'm reading it wrong.

What suburb are you in?

If you want to get some experienced opinions BABBs has its February meeting tonight (Cooparoo Bowls Club).
If you're in the west myself and another BJCP brewer are always happy to help.
If you're in the east side head to Craftbrewer.
If you're north there is PUBS brew club.
If you're anywhere heading south to the coast there are heaps of brewers along the way.

 

[SBOB]

Whilst plenty may disagree that doesn't make it best practice

This quote is from the Danstar Q&A

ctagz point was regarding AERATING the wort, not re-hydrating dry yeast

To assume that because you use dry yeast, the oxygenation of wort becomes inconsequential to the quality of fermentation (and the resulting beer) is something that I am pretty sure (hopeful) that plenty would disagree with

 

[djsmi4]

I know time helps, but even that's a pain sometimes - one ale I actually liked was better at 2 weeks in the bottle than 4...

I've noticed in two posts (I've only quoted this one) where you've mentioned time measured in weeks... You might want to wait a couple of months rather than weeks? My first brew since getting back in to brewing is only 2.5 months old & has improved considerably over the past month. My 2nd brew (2 months old) probably needs another month or two. My 3rd brew (1 month old) is good to drink now. They're all different recipes, but I must reiterate that I'd count time in months rather than weeks for a typical brew to be a drink you're happy to be drinking.

Cheers

Dave

 

[Coodgee]

Is it just me or did you forget to add the hops? Neither recipe has the required hop contribution to make up the IBUs unless I'm reading it wrong.

What suburb are you in?

If you want to get some experienced opinions BABBs has its February meeting tonight (Cooparoo Bowls Club).
If you're in the west myself and another BJCP brewer are always happy to help.
If you're in the east side head to Craftbrewer.
If you're north there is PUBS brew club.
If you're anywhere heading south to the coast there are heaps of brewers along the way.

hmmm.... *strokes chin* I'm in Greenslopes. might be worth popping in!

 

[contrarian]

I think there are significant issues with standard LHBS recipes as they don't really take into account an individual system. This can lead to substantial difference with exactly the same ingredients.

Try some tried and true recipes from this site or brewing classic styles as a jumping off point and you should be right.

What others have said about fermentation is absolutely critical too. Make sure yeast has been kept in the fridge, that everything is clean and sanitized etc etc

Brewers make wort but yeast makes beer!

 

[Coodgee]

I think there are significant issues with standard LHBS recipes as they don't really take into account an individual system some of them have NFI what they are talking about. 1 tin of Morgans something-or-other, 500 grams of crystal (you can crack 'em with a rolling pin maaate) and one packet of brew enhancer 5 zillion. bloody bewdeeful maaate.

 

[Matplat]

I've noticed in two posts (I've only quoted this one) where you've mentioned time measured in weeks... You might want to wait a couple of months rather than weeks? My first brew since getting back in to brewing is only 2.5 months old & has improved considerably over the past month. My 2nd brew (2 months old) probably needs another month or two. My 3rd brew (1 month old) is good to drink now. They're all different recipes, but I must reiterate that I'd count time in months rather than weeks for a typical brew to be a drink you're happy to be drinking.

Cheers

Dave

That must be kit brews right? Even so, it sounds like you're doing something wrong. An average APA should be good in 2-3 weeks after bottling although will probably reach its best at 5-6 weeks.

 

[djsmi4]

Yes, kit brews. I should probably add a bit more context to my last post:

* The first brew (dark ale) lost its "green" factor after 3-4 weeks & was good to drink from then, but is still continually improving.
* The APA's perfectly drinkable & has been for a few weeks but each week I open an bottle it's better than the past week. It just seems to be maturing slower than the dark ale.
* The cider's maturing the quickest out of the lot (but dry as balls due to how I did the brew) & was good to go after just a couple of weeks in.

I'm no pro & I do use a bit of fudge-factor with my brewing. I'm just happy to wait longer to drink mine. If what I'm experiencing seems to go against the grain (apologies for pun) of what most brewers here typically experience then I guess I'm doing something a little different, or even wrong (yet getting away with it)?

Apologies for taking the topic away from the OP & making it all about me haha - I was just thinking that if the OP was brewing in a similar style to how I have been, he might just need to wait a little longer prior to consuming. Except in the cases where OP's brews had gotten infected of course!